Waking up in Vermont

My luggage never showed up last night, so I slept in my clothes. Thank God a fellow student had an extra coat, I had packed mine in my suitcase. Other students have been sharing their vitamins and I found a new toothbrush in the housing area. This losing luggage thing happens to other students so whoever comes here – be prepared!

The students I met on my cab ride are Wendy and Devone. We picked up another student Caroline, who we met in the hall as she peeked out her dorm door. The four of us went downtown to Sarducci’s last night for our meal. (http://www.central-vt.com/web/sarducci/) We also went to the drug store to purchase a bottle of wine for our return trip to the dorm. Sarducci’s gave us kiddie cups to bring back to the dorm to drink from.



Everyone came to my room for a very small nightcap. We were all exhausted. I answered as many questions as I could about the program, and shared experiences with other returning students as they floated in.

After eating breakfast in the cafeteria this morning (the culinary institute had poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, yummy) I went for a walk with Devone. It felt good to get out.



There is snow on the ground or little bits of it. There certainly was snow in the mountains as we were flying over.


This snowman made me laugh.
We walked up the hill (Vermonters call them hills, I call them mountains) and looked at the view. WOW. There is something about this place.

I'm in Vermont!!!!!!!!

Flying takes a lot out of me. I started at 7:00 am in the morning, one transfer to this little itty-bitty plane,


and then to Burlington. I arrived at 3:00 for an hour cab ride to Montpelier. I would normally not have to get here until Friday evening, but starting right into the program on Friday evening would kill me.

Oh, by the way, the airline lost my luggage.

I met two new students coming in so the cab ride was much more reasonable.

Gabes taxi service was wonderful!


He was so friendly and gave us information about all the mountains and scenic things on the way in. I would highly recommend him!

A cab ride from airport to school?

Anyone looking for a cab from Burlington airport to Montpelier? I suggest Gabes taxi. 802-238-2723 http://www.gabestaxi.com/ His internet price for up to 4 people is 65.00 better than yellow cab at 86.50, and their price depended on the amount of people. GO GABE! Now lets see if he is there at 3:15- 3:20. It is allways nice to be met by someone who knows you when you arrive from travel.

For new students, don't even think about the other services of train or whatever. Montpelier is very hilly, not Austin Texas hills. I could never think about walking from train to campus, of course maybe a train ride and then a cab from the train, but then I think a cab all the way is just less hassle. If you e mail the school they will help you to find a buddy to share the expenses with. So instead of 65. plus tip it is 32.50 plus tip. A little easier to swallow.

By the way. You might want to wait to secure the ride home, it is often easier to hook up with students who have cars or are going back. Notes will be posted near the end of the session. For anyone interested I leave Burlington around 2:00 on Saturday. Just incase you want to share a cab or your car! I'd also advise having Gabes number handy!

Three days until I leave for my second residency

Three days until I leave for Vermont and I am frantically getting ready. My suitcase weighed too much last time so I am trying to alleviate that situation. I had to buy a second small suitcase in the airport, and it broke on the way back, so I am looking for something smaller. I think it was my heavy coat that weighed the luggage down, so I am going for a lighter coat this time. I hope I will be warm enough.

I wish I had while an air humidifier while in Vermont. Living in Texas most of my life I am very use to the humidity the heat in the building is so hot and dry. I brought a small hand held one last time, not sure if it works.

So far I feel much calmer than last semester. Not only do I know what to expect but I know what I will study next semester and that is very calming. I had an art show last Friday and it took up most of my time and focus, now my focus is on getting ready for school and working whatever I can before I leave. I have a lot of work in the studio. It is a good thing that the work will be a part of my study, or I would not be able to do this.

I also have some of the papers done that I need to hand in and started on my next semesters bibliography, which will be required to hand in before we leave the residency. I have to put together a presentation for my class, and that was done in power point. I believe it is finished, but I probably want to go through it one more time.

There is an art show each semester. Unfortunately I cannot bring artwork because it is so heavy. I will try top print out some photographs of my work before coming. That will have to suffice as my art show. My, I better get busy, there is only three days left!

I recevied permission to do my EXCEL for the full credits!

I received a letter fro the EXCEL board that said the following

“Congratulations! As I let you know in an e-mail message last week, the Educational Issues Committee (EIC) reviewed your EXCEL proposal and gave you the go-ahead to write an essay for 30 credits.

Committee members found your proposal to be very well organized and very thorough. They asked me to remind you to be intentional about including personal reflection about your experiences and learning in your essay….”

I am ecstatic and have already begun to write the EXCEL I am about ¼ the way through it. 80 pages sounds like a lot but I hope that I can do it in 80 pages. So far the essay has been a joy to write, one would think that it would be overwhelming. But having my outline has really helped me to be able to focus (I would highly recommend making the outline as part of your proposal, if you are doing an EXCEL). All of the items in the essay I have been doing my entire life. I am passionate about them and so it is easy to write about. So this semester I will be writing this 80 page essay, and taking two cleps, plus doing my regular semester and working full time. I don’t think my friends or family will see me much.

WELCOME new VCU students!!!!!!!!

I received my VCU packet today and thought I would send an e mail to each of the new VCU students to say welcome!

My first semester residency was a little hectic. They keep you running. But the program is wonderful. If you need anythign while at residency please do not hesitate in asking. If you want to take a walk into to town I'm open for that as well.


there were certain things at residency that I wish I had known. I was there for 4 days before I realized there was orange juice provided at breakfast and muffins out in the cafeteria! Now these are things to know. But seriously you will have a wonderful time!

I hope you all check in here and meet each other.

Bridgette

The EXCEl is coming along

Anyone wanting to attempt a EXCEL here are some hints…
• Went to the EXCEL meeting at residency, get information and ask questions.
• Printed out everything I could read from Thomas Edison’s web site. They have a great section on life experience credits.
• Found other who did an excel and reviewed theirs (asked one person to e mail me their document) this has been great as I do much better by example
• Spreadsheets- begin by putting spreadsheets together of things like Vermont college degree criteria. For anyone who is not sure what that is I’ll explain later.
• Be careful that what you are taking at VCU does not overlap with areas that you might be able to get life credits. Plan you semesters accordingly.


About VCU degree requirements

These made no sense to me for quite some time. Doris will help you figure them all out. Several degree criterea are satisfied just by doing your study. I have listed them below. If I can get this spreadsheet to print on the forum you are welcome to print it out to help you figure out where you stand. This semester through my vcu study I satisfied Ethical moral and spiritual concerns Science and math.
Writing Clear English prose, speak effectively, read anything ALL VCU STUDY
Identify, analyze, solve problems ALL VCU STUDY
* Contemporary cultures/foundations
A) History
B) Business
B) Psychology
* Ethical, moral, spiritual concerns
* Aesthetics
A) Literature courses with or without creative writing
B) Hands on art
* Quantitive/scientific methods
A) Math
B) Science
* Active/positive participation in the world

Hope this helps

Wow, This is not what I expected

Friday I finally was able to speak with someone at Vermont College to help me figure out how to put everything together. You see I am bringing credits into the college, have gone through my first semester and also plan on doing the Excel and CLEP. Excel is getting credit for your life experience. You can receive up to 30 credits for this. I want to attempt all 30. CLEP are tests that you can take to test out of areas and receive credits. I believe you can get quite a few credits this way as well. Putting everything together and knowing what is left to satisfy is a trying process.
Apparently there is an end of semester review where all of this is discussed. Not knowing has been making me crazy. I guess I don’t work well that way. I wanted to know some things now.

Well after I spoke to carol at Vermont college she suggested I write the proposal for my excel and hand it in for her meeting on Tuesday. This is rather unusual, because you are not suppose to apply for a excel until you are out of your first semester. I guess technically I am. I have handed in all my work.

So I have been frantic trying to put my excel proposal together.

More updates later

As I review my future...

I was remembering the first time I contacted Vermont College. It was because I saw that they had an undergraduate program with a concentration in Art Therapy. I had forgotten about that until now. Art therapy seems to be a thread that has run throughout my life and my adventures in art. I even put together a program entitled EXPRESS YOURSELF! It was brought into the inner city schools and therapy centers.

So I say all of this because I am thinking about my masters. If I focus on art therapy I cannot get an MFA, it would be an MA. If I don't get an MFA, then I cannot teach art in a college setting. I am not sure I want to do that, but it would be nice to have that open. I am already a professional artist making a pretty good living with my art. I am, however, writing more. Everything I write and the books that I want to write have that thread of art therapy in them. I am thinking that having a focus on this for my education might lend more credibility for the readers of my future books.

So I made a decision. To try and see if Vermont College can design a program for me, or help me to design one that has a focus on art therapy. That way I can do my undergrad work in it and then if I really like it pursue it further.
I'll let you know how that goes.